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In around Sept 1984, I was driving North along the Illinois river, north of Peoria IL on Rt 29.

I had been seeing a number of cars pulled over, with the folks all looking up in the sky. I finally got curious, and pulled over myself.

When I did, I observred a HUGE, vulture or eagle like bird.

When I say huge, I mean it was the size of a Piper cub or Tomahawk 4 seat aircraft.

It was dark brown or black. Had the same sort of profile as an eagle or a buteo type bird. Long broad wings and a large tail.

For an instant at first, I thought it may have been an ultra-light aircraft, as a landing field for them was not so awful far away. I did quite a bit of flying then, so I know how big the airplanes are, and how big they appear in the sky at various distances.

This was no aircraft though. As it effortlessly circled slowly above the river, I watched it for some time. Folks going by in their cars were also looking and pointing up at it.

There are plenty of eagles, vultures, hawks, owls, etc around there, and I know them when I see them. This was much, much bigger than a bald eagle.

I raced back to my office, telling my co-workers what I had seen. Of course they teased me that I was smoking something. I watched the local news and read the paper for some time, there was no mention made of it. But plenty saw it I am quite sure.

One Response

Thanks for sharing your story. I to have witnessed abnormally large birds in Illinois. Like you, the sightings happened 20+ years ago. From 1987-1990, my friends and I would constantly see these creatures as we fished on the bank of a small pond in Southern Illinois. This has bothered me for so long, that I have decided to make a trip back there early summer, and see if I can film it, or record any evidence of it. From witnessing it on multiple occasions, we knew where it landed and where it might have nested. Once again, thank you for your story.